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A microwave oven is more than just a kitchen appliance that heats food. With its versatility, many chefs have produced recipes that have been cooked using it. Your favorite baked goodies that you got from a bakeshop might have been prepared and cooked using this oven.

Even though it’s just a small heating box, this oven can perform various cooking processes like grilling, frying, baking, etc. Of course, you most likely already have a microwave oven, but in case you're on the lookout for a new unit I can recommend this microwave review site.

Unknown Uses of Microwave

This type of oven can help you prepare your meals easily. For instance, if you’re adding onions to your, say, chicken curry, then you’d need to slice them. But slicing them involves some tears, right? Not anymore. By putting them in the microwave oven first, you could make onions tear-free when you cut them. Simply heat them for 30 seconds (this would dry their juices). Take them out. You can easily slice them without fear of crying.

Another use of this oven is to melt margarine. Instead of letting it sit in the air for minutes to hours before you can start using it, you can melt it inside this machine at high heat. For 1 minute, you can have melted butter that you can use for your recipe (just so you know, the same kind of trick can be used with an induction appliance).

Wondering how to bring back the aroma of your spices? Well, you can thank your microwave oven later when you place them inside it. But make sure that you use a safe bowl for this purpose. Within a few seconds, those spices, seeds and nuts will have their aroma back as if you’ve just bought them.

Potato chips lose their crunchiness easily after you’ve taken them out of their container, but you can restore them by putting them inside this oven. To restore their crunchiness, place a paper towel on the pan. Then put the chips on top, heat it for a few seconds and you’ll have crispy potato chips again. You must not forget to use paper towels as they suck the moisture in the chips to restore the crispiness.

And cooking your favorite bacon is much easier with a microwave. Simply place paper towels on the pan, arrange the bacon over the towel and heat them up.

There are a lot of people in this world who thinks their home is a better place than banks for keeping their valuables safe. And there are people who think that putting up the show of having a home security system is a way of telling perpetrators that you keep valuables at home. For all these people, keeping a home safe is the best option. A perfect safe can keep your precious possessions without the thieves knowing about them. In the following section we will discuss about few home safes that are considered the best in the market when it comes to safety and security (more detailed info can be found here.Stack-On PWS-1522: This is a wall safe and can keep your valuables as well as precious documents.

Pros: The sleek design helps you hide it under some camouflage like a picture or a wall hanging. The solid steel structure is something really hard to break in. The extra thick steel on the lock plate brings a sigh of relief. The computer programmed keypad is definitely for a unique combination so opening the safe becomes extra harder. It is quite cost effective at the same time.

Cons: The safe cannot protect your valuables from fire or water.

Sentry Safe H4300: This is more of a lock box than a safe but serves the same purpose. You can also use this one for storing your best wines.

Pros: It is a mobile box with water and fireproof technology. Hence other than thieves, your documents and valuables are safe from environmental hazards too. The box, although not really light because of the thick steel body, is movable from one place to another. The tubular shaped lock is hard to break into.

Cons: The lock is manual and hence does not provide the rock solid benefit of a programmed code security.

Sentry Safe SFW123DSB: Although more reputed to be a hotel safe, it exudes all the benefits of keeping your home valuables protected.

Pros: Completely constructed of steel. The door is pry resistant and it is fire and waterproof.

First Alert 2096DF Waterproof Fire Safe: This is more or less opinionated to be the best cabinet safe. There is practically nothing you can complain about this one. A fully fire and waterproof safe, it floats when completely submerged in water. The digital lock takes anything between 3 to 8 key combinations and times out when entered incorrectly more than thrice.

Here is the list of the best home safes in the market. Pick the one you like and securely store away your precious valuables.

Induction cooktops worked very well in the kitchen because induction cooking saves energy and time. Although it heats the pan faster than an ordinary cooktop, the surface doesn’t heat up. In fact, it stays cool throughout your cooking session.

Before shopping for induction cooktops

Even though these cooktops offer several pros, there are things you must know before shopping for an induction cooktop. For more details you should visit the website Induction Select, but here's a quick overview.

Power

You should go with a unit that has more watts to have more speed. If a unit has 3,700 watts, it can boil 5 liters of water in 5 minutes. This type of unit is called super burner.

Cookware

Ordinary cookware won’t work with induction burners. Thus, you must purchase new pots and pans that will allow you to cook through induction cooking. A flat-bottom pot or pan must be made of iron to hold the magnet of the cooktop. Keep in mind that not all stainless steel can be used for this type of burner. If you are planning to purchase the biggest pan, make sure that the burner can accommodate its size.

Finish

Don’t go with shiny glass as it can easily show imperfections later on. Instead, opt for textured finish. Furthermore, glass can easily crack, especially if you use heavy pots and pans. However, if you do want glassy surface, you must take extra care when putting heavy pots on top of the burner.

Controls

The controls must be user-friendly. Make sure that the display is large enough so you can easily touch it. It is also ideal to find a model that comes with a lock feature, especially if you have a child in the house that frequently wanders in your kitchen. With this feature, the child cannot accidentally turn on the power when you are not around.

The fact that you are reading this article probably means that you are contemplating about buying a wine cooler which in turn implies that you are probably a wine enthusiast. But before buying the cooler, there are some options or checklists that you must go through. Otherwise you might end up with a cooler that does not suit your needs the way you want.

Capacity:

The first thing that jumps to mind is capacity or size. It means the number of wine bottles your cooler can hold. Bigger is of course better but pricier too. Hence you need to find out the approximate number of wine bottles you will store, easier said than done, but unless you have a lot of money lying around, you need to undertake this task. You can typically choose from 0 – 12, 12 – 21 and 22+ bottles capacity. Make your choice carefully.

Temperature Control:

It is one of the most important aspects. Single zone coolers will provide only one temperature setting at a time. Dual zone coolers support different temperature settings for red and white wines hence it is aimed towards the real wine connoisseurs. If you fall in that category, do not hesitate to buy a dual zone cooler for best storage of your precious wines.

Humidity Control:

Classic wines like Shiraz and Chardonnay are very sensitive to humidity. Sudden change in humidity will easily ruin these delectable nectars. Buying a cooler that can control humidity automatically will surely put a smile in your face. Auto Defrost: This feature is self explanatory. Coolers with auto defrost have better longevity and are easier to clean.

Auto Temperature Control:

This feature saves you from having to check the temperature of the cooler every other minute. Just set the required temperature and chill until the time is ripe to pull the cork.

Locking:

A very good feature if you have “Kids” in your house who will happily gulp a good wine when you are not around. If you have read the above points, you should be reasonably equipped by now to buy a good wine cooler for your precious wine collection. You can find more information at Cooling Wine

It can be a real pain when your garbage disposal starts stinking or the disposal unit is not as efficient as it was when it was brand new. The reason could be that your disposal needs a mighty cleaning. Let us discuss in this article some of the easy ways of cleaning the garbage disposer yourself.

Let’s Get The Hands Dirty:

There are quite a few options for cleaning the unit, but we will go through the easiest ones. Before you start the first thing you have to do is shut down the power of your garbage disposal unit. Putting your hand down the unit is also a really bad idea, even if you are sure the power is off. Use a pair of tongs or pliers, some ice, rock salt or vinegar and some lemon peels sans the seeds.

Take two cups of ice and one cup of rock salt or vinegar. Put the ice and the rock salt or vinegar on the mouth of the disposer and run the faucet at full speed. The rock salt and ice blends to clean the walls of the pipe and the grinding unit from sticky dirt and piled up food. Run the water for not more than 5-10 seconds and make sure to use only cold water. Hot water damages the pipe under the sink.

Give The Finishing Touches:

If you find something clogging the disposal and it is fairly reachable, then use your tong or pliers to grab and extract the offending material. Do not even think of using chemicals like bleaches or acid however mild in concentration it is. Your garbage disposal unit will be useless immediately. Once all these are done, just plug your sink opening and fill the sink tray up to the brim with water and unplug it abruptly. The sudden gush of water washes of anything that is still sticking to the unit. Rinse the lemon peels with warm water and push it down the disposal pipe and run the water. This removes any noxious odors.

Last but not the least follow the process at least once a month if not twice. Regular cleaning will greatly increase the longevity of your garbage disposer.